Dynamic lighting in 2D games with instant normal maps
Hey everyone,
I would like to introduce the tool for artists and game developers I am currently running a pretty successful Kickstarter campaign for:
Sprite DLight on Kickstarter
The project reached its funding goal within 17 hours and is currently approaching the third stretch goal.
Stretch goal #1 and #2 are already reached: A dynamic lighting preview window and a Mac version.
The main power of Sprite DLight is the generation of normal maps from 2D sprites in one click, which allows for quick and atmospheric dynamic lighting effects in 2D games:
"Ghost Pizza", ©2014 AlbertoV from DYA Games, normal map and dynamic lighting preview of Sprite DLight
"Selen Run Animation", ©2014 Lunar Ray Games, animated dynamic lighting preview of the sprite sheet in Sprite DLight
There are 14 days left for the campaign to reach the two remaining stretch goals.
Any support and feedback is highly appreciated.
I would like to introduce the tool for artists and game developers I am currently running a pretty successful Kickstarter campaign for:
Sprite DLight on Kickstarter
The project reached its funding goal within 17 hours and is currently approaching the third stretch goal.
Stretch goal #1 and #2 are already reached: A dynamic lighting preview window and a Mac version.
The main power of Sprite DLight is the generation of normal maps from 2D sprites in one click, which allows for quick and atmospheric dynamic lighting effects in 2D games:
"Ghost Pizza", ©2014 AlbertoV from DYA Games, normal map and dynamic lighting preview of Sprite DLight
"Selen Run Animation", ©2014 Lunar Ray Games, animated dynamic lighting preview of the sprite sheet in Sprite DLight
There are 14 days left for the campaign to reach the two remaining stretch goals.
Any support and feedback is highly appreciated.
Replies
http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=128014
The Specularity map doesn't really work quite right. Metal should be shinier than cloth for example. Not sure how you could automate this to get a faithful result, but maybe add a chroma key feature, to darken or lighten the specular map based on a color range in the source? Or maybe combine luminance values from the source?
Just thinking out loud here... what if you could select a feature on the source (belt buckle) and the software would track that feature, adjusting the specular map on all the frames?
The specularity map is of course not perfect, as the information for it is derived from the input sprite and some of the generated maps.
The adjustments by color range approach sounds pretty good. However, I am not sure how important the specularity map will be for the majority of users, and if there really needs to be manual control over it.
Stretch goal 3:
Stretch goal 4:
I am currently reworking the GUI, any feedback is appreciated.
The flat map generation buttons have been replaced by shiny new orb buttons, representing the appearance of the respective maps.
The clock is ticking, there are 24 hours left to grab the tool at the Kickstarter backer price and to jump in for the beta.
"Skull Plant", ©2013 Kevin Chaloux, normal map and dynamic lighting preview of Sprite DLight